France - another miscarriage of justice: innocent and free after six years in prison

Marc Machin is a free man. On Tuesday morning the 26-year-old was released from prison after serving more than six years for a crime he hadn't committed.

Once again the French justice system had put an innocent man behind bars and would have kept him there had new evidence not surfaced after another person stepped up and admitted he was the murderer.

Last week here on NP, the case of Loïc Sécher highlighted how sometimes a miscarriage of justice allows an innocent man to serve time. In Sécher's case it was for a crime that reportedly never happened.

This time around though there was most definitely a crime, but the wrong man was sentenced even though he continuously proclaimed his innocence.

In both cases it took a third party to come forward to shed light on what had or hadn't happened, and advances in DNA testing enabled a re-examination of the existing evidence.

Machin was arrested in December 2001 for the murder of Marie-Agnès Bedot. Apparently all the evidence pointed towards him and while being questioned he admitted guilt - but later retracted his confession and claimed his innocence.

After being charged, he was put on trial and three years later found guilty and sentenced to 18 years.

Still protesting his innocence, Machin launched an appeal. But worse was to come as in 2005 his appeal was turned down and the sentence hardened so there would be no release until he had served 12 years.

Much in the same way as Sécher has remained behind bars (and still awaits a decision on his release) until his accuser came forward earlier this year to retract her original claims that he had raped her, so Machin had to wait until someone else admitted to a crime for which he had been found guilty and sentenced.

And in March this year that's exactly what happened, when another man, 34-year-old David Sagno turned himself in to the police saying he needed "to ease his conscience".

Further investigation has revealed that not only was Sagno's DNA found on the clothes of Bedot, but also on the clothing of another woman, Maria-Judith Araujo, who was murdered six months later in May 2002 - in exactly the same spot.

Sagno is now in detention awaiting trial.

Immediately after Sagno was charged, Machin requested that his sentence be suspended, but the wheels of French justice move slowly and although his application was granted there was a delay in it being implemented.

A delay during which Machin didn't exactly help his cause.

Just days before he was due to be released on July 1, he assaulted a prison guard and found himself up on a charge before the correctional tribunal.

Its decision was to defer his release for another three months - a verdict contested by the prosecutor who sought and was accorded an extension of an extra month because the original three months had been considered "too mild".

On his release this morning Machin was perhaps not surprisingly relieved and smiling.

"I never lost hope that one day the truth would be revealed," he told reporters.

"I've spent over six and a half years behind bars, now all I want to do is live a quiet life with my family," he added.

For Machin only half the battle has been won as there's a final twist to this tale. Although he's now a free man, his name has not yet been cleared.

His sentence has been suspended and he has been released, but he still has a criminal record and for complete exoneration must now apply for the original decision to be annulled.